INTRODUCTION:
Ayurveda is the science based on ancient
Indian philosophy. It is a combination of two words "Ayu" and
"Veda".
"Ayu" means Life
"Veda" means knowledge/wisdom/science
Which can appropriately be called. "The
science of Living or Life".
It can be defined as medical science, which keeps the human body fit,
providing plants, animal products and minerals. It deals not only with
what should be done to maintain one's health but also with what should
be done to maintain one's health and vigor.
Ayurveda has an armory of physical
treatments from medication to massage, cleansing and detoxification programs
and remedies for the disorders.
Yoga
means "Union". It is a conscious
process, which helps us to rise from our animal instincts to a level of
normal discrimination and elevating us to manifest the immense potentialities
dormant in us. It not only brings the fitness and vigor but also harnesses
our will, emotions and expands our power of insight, vision and analysis.
It is a wonderful science designed to harness the will, calm the mind
and steady the emotions, without losing the sharpness of intellect is
the key to human progress.
Yoga alone enables the practitioner
to perceive and experience the world within and around him, to touch the
divine joy of all creation, and then to share that nectar of divine wealth
and happiness with his fellow beings. It is a friend to those who embrace
it sincerely and totally. It lifts its practitioners from clutches of
pain and sorrow, and enables them to live fully, taking a delight in life.
The practice of Yoga helps the lazy body to become active and vibrant.
It transforms the mind, making it harmonious.
Yoga transforms
the mind, making it harmonious. It helps to keep one's body and mind in
tune with the essence and soul, so that, all three blended into one. That
is the union means establishing in the ultimate reality (self-realization).
It is the right science for the transformation of human being.
Approach of body & mind relationship through
Yoga & Ayurveda: Both body
and mind work vice versa for the existence.
Yoga says mind has an important role to make a disease free body. And
in the same way the body knows how to control or make a pure mind.
Ayurveda's approach believes in it.
But in a quite different way, it teaches that all illness affect the body
and the mind, and those should never be treated in isolation from one
another. Anything, which affects the mind, affects the body and vice versa.
PRINCIPLES OF AYURVEDA:
Ayurveda believes the universe is
composed of pancha bhutas or five basic elements
A) Prithvi (earth)
B) Ap (water)
C) Tej (fire)
D) Vayu (air)
E) Akash (ether)
Everything on the universe including food
and bodies we possess, is derived from these bhutas.